Updated article

What began as a winter illness in 2021 turned into a supernatural claim of life beyond the grave.

Steve Boyls, now 69, slipped into a three-week coma after contracting COVID-19 and emerged months later telling of a vivid spiritual journey that might just shake even the most hardened skeptic, as Daily Mail reports.

The story reads like a modern-day Lazarus tale—except this one ends not just in recovery, but in a book co-authored with his wife, chronicling what they believe is proof of the divine.

Critical Illness Sparks Life-Altering Experience

In November 2021, Steve, his wife, Dr. Kathy Boyls, and their teenage daughter all came down with COVID. What began as mild symptoms turned serious as Steve’s condition deteriorated within weeks.

Kathy, a physician, initially thought a CPAP machine would get him through. Instead, five days after he entered the hospital, Steve was placed on a ventilator and into a medically induced coma to survive what doctors later called a near-death ordeal.

The ICU stay dragged on—with Steve intubated for 45 days and hospitalized for nearly four months. Kathy later admitted, “We had no idea what we were in for.”

Guided by an Angel Through Eternity

While Steve lay unconscious, he says his visit to heaven featured a guardian angel named Marzuka. Clad in a robe of white and gold and wielding a sword, the figure told him, “I’m here to take you to heaven for a little while, while your body heals.”

Steve describes being shown images of his physical body in the hospital by none other than Jesus Christ himself, who reportedly reassured him: “This is you, but you’re going to be just fine.” In Steve’s words, “I didn’t have any sense that I had a sick body on Earth somewhere because my spirit just felt great.”

The vision wasn’t just celestial figures. Steve believes he reconnected with his brother, niece, and even longtime family pets—souls, he says, who comforted him during the ordeal.

A Surprise Visit From an Unborn Son

The most emotional reunion came in the form of a child Steve had never met: a son lost to miscarriage decades earlier. In the vision, the boy introduced himself: “Hi, my name is Daniel. I think you're my dad.”

According to Steve, Daniel told him he had already seen Kathy, adding a layer of reassurance to the parents who had quietly grieved the loss for years. The Boyls had named their unborn son Daniel all those years ago—but never imagined such an encounter possible.

Steve said these ethereal moments embedded themselves so clearly in his memory that, during recovery, they resurfaced in what he calls a “flood”—a divine motivation to fight through grueling physical therapy.

From Death’s Door to Full Recovery

Steve’s road back wasn’t easy. Months of hospitalization left him unable to sit, talk, chew, or walk. He was moved to a rehab center, where he (quite literally) had to start from square one.

For over a year, he was monitored by a team of nearly a dozen specialists and placed on 60 pills and supplements a day. Though the health care system is broken in many ways, sometimes it still does its job.

By 2025, Steve had fully recovered, needing zero prescription medications. He called his survival a “miracle,” adding, “Every single one of them told me that it’s a miracle you’re alive.”

A Message Meant to Be Shared

Now, four years after his miraculous recovery, Steve and Kathy have published their story. Their book, I’ve Been to Heaven, was released in October 2025 by Baker Publishing Group.

The book doesn't just document Steve’s mystical journey—it also reveals Kathy's spiritual battle during his coma. As a woman of science and faith, she leaned hard on prayer while the medical system did its best.

Steve now feels called to encourage readers to think differently. “People need to broaden their understanding of what heaven really is,” he says. “God appears to people more times than they realize.”

Faith Over Fear in a Troubled Time

In an era where people are told to trust only what they can see under a microscope, Steve’s message trips every cultural wire. But he’s not here to debate—he’s here to proclaim. In his words, “God’s real. Jesus is real. He’s more real than the road you're walking on or the chair you’re sitting in.”

That challenge to modern skepticism is something too many little tyrants would rather keep out of public discourse. But testimonies like Steve’s remind everyday Americans that there's a dimension no lab test can measure.

And that’s the kind of truth no bureaucrat, no tech moderator, and certainly no health “expert” can suppress. Because sometimes, a man doesn’t just come back from the brink—he comes back with a message.